Puerto Rico at the United Nations

Every year, the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations discusses Puerto Rico’s state of political uncertainty. While they have reached a consensus defending the Island’s right to self-determination for the past 35 years, this year’s decision is tentative due to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Puerto Rico v. Sánchez Valle and the impending Fiscal Oversight Board that will be imposed on the Island. This news article discusses this event, who the speakers will be, and captures some of their opinions.

This scholarly legal article analyzes Puerto Rico’s liminal political status from an internationalist perspective. The author states that recent developments have made it evident that Puerto Rico is non-self-governing under international law and discusses the implications of this status. The article offers a critical perspective on how the Island has been discussed and classified by the United Nations.

The U.N. Special Committee on Decolonization met to hear and discuss arguments from petitioners regarding Puerto Rico’s political status. The news article presents the opinions of one petitioner, former governor Alejandro García Padilla. He states that he was forced to support the legislation the House of Representatives passed concerning the Fiscal oversight Board. Moreover, he urged the United States to fulfill the promises it made when it requested, in 1953, that Puerto Rico be removed from the U.N.’s list of colonies.

This article discusses the Special Committee on Decolonization and it’s new resolution that would require the United States to take responsibility for the plight of Puerto Rico, as well as create a process that will enable the citizens of Puerto Rico to exercise their right to self-determination and independence. This is accompanied by the denunciation of the colonial occupation by over 40 petitioner groups, categorizing the act as genocide and “economic terrorism”. The committee also condemned the lack of support by the United States government in the recovery of Hurricane Maria, citing that the hurricane-related deaths were all a result of colonialism.

This article discusses the new resolution approved by the United Nation that favors self-determination and independence in Puerto Rico due to the allegations that the authorities did not respond to the emergency created by Hurricane Maria in a prompt and adequate manner. This resolution had the full endorsement of the Community of Latin American States (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos – CELAC) and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (Movimiento de Países no Alienados). Despite the 37 resolutions in favor of Puerto Rican independence over 47 years, there have been no decolonization efforts put forth by the United States.